Institute History
Description
Coming of age in Manhattan's Lower East Side, 16-year-old Victor Rodriguez is enjoying the golden period of adolescence. Invincible teenage cool has taken up residence where the chaos and insecurity of puberty once dwelled. Action and consequence have yet to tie the knot and life is still governed solely by the pursuit of pleasure.
Sharing a bedroom in his Grandma's tiny apartment with his sister Vicki, 13, and brother Nino, 12, victor has little to call his own except for a carefully constructed facade of cool. He thinks he's the greatest ladies man his neighborhood has ever seen. Unfortunately, since he got caught sleeping with "Fat Donna" Santiago, nobody else does. Suddenly he finds himself in danger of becoming the laughing stock of the neighborhood.
When word hits the street that "Juicy Judy" Ramirez, the most beautiful girl on the Lower East Side, has broken up with her boyfriend, Victor sets his sights on her in an effort to save his reputation. Setting out to earn her affections amidst fierce neighborhood competition, victor employs the help of her younger brother Carlos to gain an inside track. His plan proves successful as Judy accepts him as her new man. The news about the dalliance with Donna is forgotten, and Victor's place high atop the neighborhood's social pecking order seems secure. As his head swells to pop star proportion, victor fails to ask a key question: "Why would the most popular girl in the neighborhood choose me?" The answer is simple. Fed up with the disruptive advances made towards her by nearly every boy in town, Judy is forced to choose a boyfriend to throw others off the scent.
Victor's conquest soon sends shockwaves back home. First, Carlos insists that victor introduce him to Vicki, for whom he's been harboring a crush. victor does so and a budding romance is formed. Then Nino, particularly awestruck at the news of Victor's success, asks him for "lessons in love." victor, of course, is happy to oblige. But by helping his brother and sister advance into the realm of adolescent romance, victor unknowingly invites the wrath of his grandmother. Identifying her sole purpose in life as caretaker of Victor and his siblings, she fears that relationships with the opposite sex will lead the kids towards the desire for increased independence, and in turn, self-sufficiency. failing to comprehend the deep emotional resonance the situation has for his grandmother, Victor disregards her ultimatums as idle threats.
Then the neighborhood rumor mill churns out the truth about Judy's motivation for going out with Victor. He confronts her and accuses Judy of using him. Judy counter-attacks by revealing the fact that she is fully aware that Victor's motivation for pursuing her was equally self-serving: he was out to save his rep.
Grandma, convinced that victor has not taken an adequate action to remedy the situation, tries to kick him out of the house. Her attempt fails, but deep emotional wounds are left behind as Victor watches his grandmother try to abandon him. Having lost Judy and having seen seemingly irreparable damage done to his family, victor attempts to pick up the pieces of his broken relationships. As the facade that led him down the road begins to crumble, Victor discovers the difference between acting like a man and being one, as he moves in the only direction possible . . . forward